The invention relates to a method for treating primarily functional disturbances like dyskinesias, vegetative dystonies, dishormonoses, parethes and reversible organic damage of human organism, e.g., gastric or duodenal ulcers, osteochondropathies, similar osteo-articular diseases, tissue damage, including wounds made with cold or firearms, etc., by means of acting on biologically active (acupuncture) points (abbreviated further as "BAPs") with low power (nonthermal) electromagnetic radiation of extremely high frequency (EHF).
In this specification, hereinafter the terms "EHF electromagnetic radiation" and "microwave radiation" are regarded to be synonyms.
The potential of EHF electromagnetic waves for application as a medical treatment was established rather long ago. However, its interaction with living cells, cell structures and the organism as a whole remains the subject of active experimental and theoretical investigation (see, for instance, Andreyev Ye.A., Bely M.U., Sit'ko S.P., "Reaction of Human Organism on the Electromagnetic Radiation of Millimeter Range," Vestnik Academia Nauk SSSR, 1985, 1, 24-32 (in Russian); and Andreyev Ye.A., Bely M.U., Sit'ko S.P., "Manifestation of Characteristic Eigenfrequences of Human Organism," Dopovidi AN UkrSSR B, 1984, 10, 56-59 (in Ukrainian)). These documents are each entirely incorporated herein by reference.
Particularly, in the first of the mentioned articles, it was stated that healthy men typically do not react upon the millimeter range electromagnetic radiation (27-78 GHz, the power density below 10,000 .mu.W/cm.sup.2), while persons who are ill, after being subjected to the irradiation of strictly specified areas of their body with electromagnetic waves of fixed frequency ranging from 45 to 65 GHz, demonstrate expressive sensor reactions like warmth, coldness, pricking feelings, local or diffuse pains, or parethesias in the areas of the diseased organ's arrangement. Typically, the location of the diseased organ is spaced a distance from the zone of irradiation. It was shown there that for some frequencies of this range, the organism displays a general reaction in the form of an emotional rise (esophoria), or conversely, inhibition (sleepiness), and that sensor reactions in many cases tightly (resonancely) respond to definite (named further "characteristic") (eigen) frequencies, the deviation of which by less than 1% results in the loss of the aforesaid responses. It was further shown that the arrangement of the areas of the human organism maximally sensitive to EHF electromagnetic radiation (EMR) corresponds to the layout of acupuncture BAPs.
In view of this data, and because EHF electromagnetic radiation is intensively absorbed by cell water, making it practically impossible at present to directly physically register the aforesaid dependencies between the psycho-physiological reactions of the human organism and the frequency of the radiation, two main conclusions have been made:
it is the sensory reactions of patients that are best used in prescribing treatment and monitoring its course (particularly in view of the fact that positive (therapeutic) effects result only at characteristic frequencies accompanied by comfort feelings, i.e., pain reduction, local warmth, muscle relaxation, the feeling of elation, etc.); and PA1 the organism itself must choose the required characteristic frequencies. PA1 definition, on the basis of preliminary diagnosis, of an initial set of BAPs (acupuncture points), the action on which may induce therapeutical effects; PA1 determination of a subset (in the form of a specified short list) of BAPs, action on which induces positive sensor reactions, and therefore can actually ensure therapeutical effects, including: PA1 probing each of the previously chosen BAPs with EHF electromagnetic radiation, gradually varying the frequency in the 40-70 GHz range and the power density in the 10 to 10,000 .mu.W/cm.sup.2 range; PA1 definition of at least one characteristic frequency and one minimum power density for which a steady sensor reaction of the patient's organism is observed in the damaged zone; PA1 selection of BAPs, the action on which leads to positive sensor reactions of the patient's organism (such list of BAPs is often named "the prescription," by analogy with drug treatment); PA1 the course of treatment by EHF electromagnetic irradiation of the selected BAPs (usually the seance's duration is 30-60 minutes daily or every other day), with the alternation of BAPs and the characteristic frequencies corresponding to them from seance to seance, and (in the case of positive sensor reaction reduction) gradual increase of the power density from the established minimum in the range of 10 to 10,000 .mu.W/cm.sup.2 to the upper limit of 10,000 .mu.W/cm.sup.2 ; and PA1 control of the course of treatment according to the patient's description of his sensor reactions, and the termination of the treatment when sensor reactions in the area of damage are lost at the maximum power density of 10,000 .mu.W/cm.sup.2.
The last conclusion was practically realized with the creation of a spark ("noise") generator of wide range EHF electromagnetic radiation (see the description of the invention in U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,286, which patent is entirely incorporated herein by reference), the use of which for microwave resonance therapy envisaged irradiation of BAPs selected for treatment during a definite (from several minutes to several tens of minutes) period of time. It was demonstrated that the patient's organism can itself choose the necessary (resonance) narrow band subranges of characteristic frequencies from a wide band of electromagnetic "noise."
In such cases, however, the selection of definite BAPs for medical treatment was made using classical ideas, rooted in the traditional (zheng-quy) therapy, that acupuncture points are linked with concrete organs or systems of the human organism. It is natural that the psycho-physiological state of definite patients and personal peculiarities of their reactions to the provided treatment were taken into account insufficiently, and as a result, in many cases, a positive result of the treatment proved to be problematic. Moreover, during the treatment with the help of the above device, most of its exit power was uselessly spent inducing electromagnetic "pollution" of the environment around the patient or medical workers, with unknown and uncertain consequences for them.
Therefore, in microwave resonance therapy, an accent was made on the selection of resonance characteristic (eigen) frequencies controlled by a physician. One such device for performing microwave resonance therapy is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,409, which patent is entirely incorporated herein by reference.
From a number of methods based on this principle, the one closest to the proposed method is that of microwave resonance (reflex) therapy known from the description of invention in the USSR certificate of authorship and in the Russian Federation Patent No. 1 341 762. This Russian Federation Patent document is entirely incorporated herein by reference.
This method provides:
The change of BAPs in the course of a seance is also possible within the scope of the prescription, as well as termination of a seance following the appearance of pain or other discomfort sensations in a patient.
However, even at a power density as low as 8000 .mu.W/cm.sup.2, along with the therapeutical effects, there appears a thermal effect of the EHF electromagnetic radiation on the BAPs and the adjacent tissues (this effect may enhance with a further increase of power density and time of exposure). This results in a weakening of the therapeutical action and may: (1) induce the above mentioned discomfort feelings in a patient during medical seances, (2) lead to far from optimal use of the potential of the BAPs chosen at the beginning of the treatment, and (3) ensure mistakes in determining the terms of treatment termination.
Moreover, the seance to seance increase of the power density of EHF electromagnetic radiation (e.g., radiation having extremely hard and clearly expressed general biological effect) may result in hardly foreseeable negative consequences for the patient's organism as a whole, particularly in the case where the time of exposure is up to 60 minutes.
However, while applying microwave resonance therapy, it is important to decrease the effective dose absorbed in every course of treatment, particularly when there is a need for several consequential courses of treatment.
Finally, the sensitivity of individual patients to the therapeutic action of EHF EMR and, respectively, the necessity to have definite effective absorbed doses of this radiation for the therapeutical effect to become evident, depend not only on the type of disease and the general psycho-physiological status of the organism, but also on such peculiarities of the organism's biochemical status as chirality (i.e., the left or right rotation of the EMR, or the type of protein or other macromolecules in the biotissues), and, respectively, different sensitivity of concrete patients to the left or right polarized microwave radiation.
In connection with the aforesaid, at the basis of the invention there was the task to improve the sequential arrangement and adjust regimens or treatment methods in order to create such a method of microwave resonance therapy that would lower the effective absorbed dose in the course of treatment, and at the same time, take into account the chiral sensitivity of patients, thereby accelerating therapeutical effects.